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3/4
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Smoke Signals
(1998)
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Dan Webster
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It is Farmer who stands out. As Victor's long-suffering father, he exhibits a range of emotions barely suggested by the one-dimensional, if entertaining, character that he portrayed in the popular Powwow Highway.
Posted Nov 08, 2023
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4/4
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Lone Star
(1996)
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Dan Webster
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While it may be best experienced during a second viewing, when all of Sayles masterful storytelling techniques are dearer to see, Lone Star ranks with the very best of the director's work.
Posted Sep 06, 2023
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3.5/4
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Moulin Rouge
(2001)
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Dan Webster
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Moulin Rouge boasts many moments that are as hilarous in tone as they are dazzling to the eye.
Posted Sep 05, 2023
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2/4
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Armageddon
(1998)
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Dan Webster
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The movie is everything you might expect -- and much, much more. The words shameless, brazen, lewd, impudent, presumptuous, outrageous and profligate are just a few of the adjectives that come to mind.
Posted Jun 20, 2023
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3.5/4
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Patriot Games
(1992)
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Dan Webster
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It imbues the minimalist plot line with quick pacing, a collection of intriguing twists and appropriately acted performances. Especially good is Harrison Ford, who took over for Alec Baldwin and proves that he is the best thinking-man's action star.
Posted Jun 06, 2023
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The Color Purple
(1985)
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Dan Webster
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Let's keep this simple: Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple is -- without a doubt -- the best film of 1985.
Posted May 25, 2023
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4/4
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Heavenly Creatures
(1994)
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Dan Webster
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In the end, Jackson acts the responsible journalist.
Posted May 15, 2023
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2/4
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Thelma & Louise
(1991)
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Dan Webster
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It's the closing minutes that sink Thelma & Louise... If the film is meant to be seen as an allegory then it's dramatically unsatisfying and philosophically problematic.
Posted Feb 28, 2023
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2.5/4
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Godzilla
(1998)
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Dan Webster
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This newest look at the radiation-created creature who once razed Tokyo continues to advance the art of digital-efx to a jaw-dropping degree. Yet it offers little else.
Posted Feb 15, 2023
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3.5/4
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The Big Lebowski
(1998)
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Dan Webster
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It would be hard to think of another leading man (Nick Nolte comes to mind) who would be so willing to dumb down, so good at it and yet so capable of making his character someone whom we might actually care about.
Posted Jan 20, 2023
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3/4
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Groundhog Day
(1993)
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Dan Webster
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Groundhog Day is not a comedy classic. But it should make you laugh. In these days of unfunny humor and hilarious drama, that's no small feat. With or without practice.
Posted Dec 21, 2022
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Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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That ending is perhaps the most authentic and affecting part of Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom. It’s open-ended, leaving the possibility of a range of outcomes.
Posted Dec 16, 2022
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3/4
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Gladiator
(2000)
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Dan Webster
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It is far from the David Lean-type epic that some of the film's producers are dubbing it, but it's far better than the mass of those 1950s-era sword-and-sandal spectacles.
Posted Nov 01, 2022
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Carnival of Souls
(1962)
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Dan Webster
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Hilligoss' unusual beauty, Harvey's occasional off-frame camera positioning and the essential weird feeling of his imagined world make it worth a look.
Posted Sep 22, 2022
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Copycat
(1995)
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Dan Webster
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In the end, Copycat, runs out of plot.
Posted Aug 10, 2022
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Nightmare Alley
(2021)
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Dan Webster
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Cooper, who is in virtually every scene, carries the film as a convincing Stan. And if nothing else, everything -- thanks to cinematographer Dan Laustsen -- looks good.
Posted Feb 18, 2022
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The Harder They Fall
(2021)
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Dan Webster
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What's most obvious about The Harder They Fall is Samuel's love of the traditional Western formula, which makes the film the closest thing to a John Ford/Sergio Leone production that's been released in years. Maybe decades.
Posted Dec 10, 2021
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Hive
(2021)
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Dan Webster
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As a statement -- a universal statement -- on how women are so often treated as chattel, or worse, Basholli has constructed something every bit as inspiring as it is powerful.
Posted Dec 09, 2021
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Dune
(2021)
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Dan Webster
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A film that is sweeping in scope, rich with the kind of computer-graphics that we've come to expect and characters that -- for the most part -- feel fully fleshed out.
Posted Nov 18, 2021
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The Gentlemen
(2020)
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Dan Webster
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In the end, no one should ever take a Ritchie film too seriously. Should I ever read that sentiment expressed in a headline, it just might cure my headache.
Posted Nov 17, 2021
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The Courier
(2020)
|
Dan Webster
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...essentially the story of an extraordinary male friendship...
Posted Nov 17, 2021
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The Immortal
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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"L'immortale," then, has me not only looking forward to those coming episodes but also, as a consequence, brushing up on la mia capacità di parlare la lingua italiana. And, not coincidentally, craving pizza.
Posted Nov 17, 2021
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2/4
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Go Fish
(1994)
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Dan Webster
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In the end, [Ely] seems to have nothing in common with Max but the desire to be in a steady relationship.
Posted Aug 25, 2021
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Never Rarely Sometimes Always
(2020)
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Dan Webster
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Besides being the most accomplished film I've seen this year, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always" doesn't go where anyone trained by Hollywood or TV melodrama would expect.
Posted Jun 29, 2020
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The Painter and the Thief
(2020)
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Dan Webster
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By researching something that intrigued him, he stumbled onto a story far more interesting than a mere art heist.
Posted Jun 08, 2020
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Crip Camp
(2020)
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Dan Webster
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The film uses the word "crip" and reclaims it. By doing so, a pejorative is thus transformed into a badge, maybe of honor, certainly of power.
Posted May 29, 2020
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Zombi Child
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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Overall, though, his "Zombi Child" is a haunting watch, with long sequences of girls lounging, tortured - so to speak - by boredom ... similar to the girls in Peter Weir's 1975 mystery classic "Picnic at Hanging Rock."
Posted May 22, 2020
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Portrait of a Lady on Fire
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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From the soulful gazes of her film's two protagonists, to the repeated references to women bemoaning the powerlessness of their positions, Sciamma's "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" is a testament to the depths of feminine desire.
Posted May 19, 2020
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The Times of Bill Cunningham
(2018)
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Dan Webster
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A style that some of us love as much as we love the city itself.
Posted May 06, 2020
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Bad Education
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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Jackman is very good.
Posted May 06, 2020
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What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael
(2018)
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Dan Webster
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What's most impressive about "What She Said," which was written and directed by Rob Garver, is that it is, at times, nearly as critical of Kael as she was of those whose work she had no use for.
Posted May 06, 2020
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The Wild Goose Lake
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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Diao isn't content just to make an engaging story, either, no matter how poignant... What Diao attends to most of all is his shot selection.
Posted May 06, 2020
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The Way Back
(2020)
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Dan Webster
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Affleck deserves special mention for not just for pulling off a credible acting performance but for, given his own well-publicized struggles with alcohol, taking the role of Jack in the first place.
Posted May 06, 2020
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Bacurau
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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The way this film's story develops - well, I wasn't surprised at all when Udo Kier appeared on the scene.
Posted May 06, 2020
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Sorry We Missed You
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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Give Loach this much: He refuses to compromise his vision. And that vision doesn't include the kind of false hope that television sitcoms in particular offer.
Posted May 06, 2020
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Prefontaine
(1997)
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Dan Webster
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Behind decent performances by R. Lee Ermey and Jared Leto as Oregon running legend Steve Prefontaine, James manages to capture a feeling of reality that augments this tearful, yet stirring, tale of a great athlete who dies young.
Posted Mar 24, 2020
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The Invisible Man
(2020)
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Dan Webster
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[Leigh] Whannell creates a solid sense of place and he affects a narrative pacing that punctuates long, slow sequences with sudden stabs of graphic violence.
Posted Mar 06, 2020
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Super Frenchie
(2020)
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Dan Webster
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All in all, Super Frenchie - a title that comes from the nickname that Giraud has given himself - is an exciting feature.
Posted Mar 03, 2020
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Taylor Swift: Miss Americana
(2020)
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Dan Webster
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In the surprisingly thoughtful documentary "Miss Americana," she has far more to say about it than just "Flibberty Jib."
Posted Feb 14, 2020
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Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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Most of all, Lewkowicz shows how even though "Fiddler" - both the original musical and the 1971 Norman Jewison-directed movie - is primarily a Jewish story, it still manages to speak to audiences across both generations and national boundaries.
Posted Jan 24, 2020
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A Hidden Life
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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But Malick's style... doesn't always fit the narratives he pursues. And it isn't quite appropriate enough for the story he tries to tell in "A Hidden Life."
Posted Jan 10, 2020
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Little Women
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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The effect is sometimes confusing... But when the movie finds its rhythm, it blossoms into an authentic and moving portrayal of Alcott's world, smoothly melding traditional themes with contemporary attitudes.
Posted Jan 03, 2020
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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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There is value to this, of course. The problem is that it all feels a bit too calculated, as if Abrams were merely ticking off boxes instead of portraying a "Star Wars" world in which such attitudes are intrinsic.
Posted Dec 30, 2019
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The Report
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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It's [Adam] Driver's very uniqueness, his odd leading man's physicality, not to mention his skill at conveying a range of emotions - much of it with just a slight change of expression - that fuels the film's narration.
Posted Dec 20, 2019
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Harriet
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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So while, similar to the real-life human being it portrays, the movie "Harriet" might have its flaws, it is an important depiction for our time: at least as important as a future president's supposed chopping down of a cherry tree.
Posted Nov 15, 2019
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Jojo Rabbit
(2019)
|
Dan Webster
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Fueled by 11-year-old Davis' powerful performance, the film's message is that simple human kindness is the greatest strength of all.
Posted Nov 15, 2019
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Judy
(2019)
|
Dan Webster
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The result is a moving study of a talented performer who never found the love she so clearly craved.
Posted Nov 01, 2019
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Brittany Runs a Marathon
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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But the film, written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Paul Downs Colaizzo - and inspired by the real-life experience of Colaizzo's roommate Brittany O'Neill - is far more complicated than any simple formulaic manipulation.
Posted Oct 11, 2019
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Downton Abbey
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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Yet in his "Downton Abbey" movie, Fellows adds in a few contemporary issues - among them women's rights and the plight of gay men. And though welcome, neither changes the overall template. Which is just what the series fans ordered.
Posted Oct 03, 2019
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Hustlers
(2019)
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Dan Webster
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Like Scorsese, Scafaria employs a number of skillful directorial touches, including beginning her film with a single-take look at Destiny entering a strip club as if she were a commodity on display - which, in effect, she is.
Posted Oct 03, 2019
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